Heidelberg University€¦  · Web viewNo. 37, December, 2006. EACS addresses and newsletter 2. Report from the President 3 . Greetings from the Secretary 9 . Report from the Treasurer

EACS NewsletterNo. 37, December,

2006EACS addresses and newsletter.......................2Report from the President...............................3 Greetings from the Secretary .........................9 Report from the Treasurer ............................10 EACS Elections of the New Board..................13 Young Scholar Award – Results.......................15Young Scholar Award – 2008..........................15CCK Foundation LTG – Report 2005................16CCK Foundation Library Travel Grant.............17Reseau Asie – Asia Network............................19Conference Announcements...........................21European Reference Index for Humanities.....23Projects, workshops and other initiatives.......25Obituary.........................................................28New publications............................................30EACS membership payment form...................31

EACS Homepage: http://www.soas.ac.uk/eacs

European Association for Chinese Studies

Association européenne

d’études chinoises

EACS ADDRESSES

Change of address information and all membership payments should be sent to the Treasurer.

PresidentBrunhild Staiger, Institute of Asian Affairs, Rothenbaumchaussee 32, 20148 Hamburg, GermanyTel. +49 40 4288740Fax +49 40 410 7945E-mail: [email protected]

SecretaryRoel Sterckx, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, United KingdomTel. +44 (0)1223 335137Fax +44 (0)1223 335110E-mail: [email protected]

TreasurerMatthias Richter, Universität Ham-burg, Asien-Afrika-Institut (ChinA), Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 Ost, D-20146 Hamburg, GermanyTel. +49 40 42838 2359Fax +49 40 42838 3106E-mail: [email protected]

WebmasterLuca Pisano, Dipartimento di Orien-talistica – Sezione Sinologica, Via Giulia di Barolo 3/a, 10124 Torino, ItalyTel. + 39 011 6703852Fax +39 011 6703858E-mail: [email protected]

EACS NEWSLETTER

The EACS Newsletter is published twice a year: in spring, and in autumn. All contributions should be sent to the Editor by E-mail or on a diskette. Please remember to check your copy carefully before sending it. Workshop and conference reports should not exceed 600 words. Calls for papers should not exceed 100 words. Remember to include all relevant information when contributing new book titles (author, title, publication place, publisher, year, pp., price in EURO and ISBN). Names and titles in non-Latin script such as Cyrillic are welcome provided that the author’s name is in transcription and a short content summary in English is included.

Every effort is made to include all relevant news, but the Editor reserves the right to edit all contributions for publication.

Newsletter EditorAnn Heirman, Department of Chinese Language and Culture, Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, B9000 Gent, Belgium. Tel. +32 9 264 41 56; fax +32 9 264 41 94 E-mail: [email protected]

NEXT COPY DEADLINE:

May 1, 2007Next issue: June, 2007

REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT

(delivered at the EACS General Assembly in Ljubljana on September 2, 2006)

Dear EACS Members, dear Colleagues and Friends,

According to Article 20 of our Constitution the General Assembly shall receive the reports submitted by the President, the Secretary and the Treasurer. My report will deal with EACS activities during the past two years and consists of four parts: 1. EACS Projects and Programmes, 2. Communication, 3. Activities of the Board and Executive Committee, 4. Relations with other Associations.

1. EACS Projects and Programmes

1.1 Library travel grants

Let me start with the Library Travel Grants (LTG), our most long-established and still very successful program that has existed for almost twelve years. The program fully depends on funding from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, to whom we owe sincere thanks for the continued support of this scheme. It enables European sinologists or sinologists with permanent residence in Europe to visit major sinological libraries in Western Europe for one week. Priority is given to PhD students and scholars from East European countries. The details of the program are published in every issue of our Newsletter. In June this year I signed a contractual agreement with the CCK Foundation

which guarantees the continuity of this program for a further three years. Starting this year through 2008, we will receive 10,000 Euro each year.

As is required by the scheme, students and scholars from East European countries predominate. In 2004, 15 young scholars received a LTG, out of whom 10 came from East European countries. In 2005 11 sinologists could visit one of the eight sinological libraries with 8 coming from Eastern Europe. So far this year 5 people have been selected for a LTG with 3 coming from Eastern Europe.

At its meeting in September 2005, the EACS Board decided to facilitate the management of the LTG by introducing only two deadlines per year, March 20 and October 20. We shall see whether this change proves to be reasonable. Another change will be necessary this year, as Guido Samarani’s and Olga Lomova’s terms of office on the Board are over and we have to find new Board members taking over their responsibilities. On this occasion I should like to thank the two colleagues in charge of the applications, Bernhard Fuehrer (SOAS, London) and Guido Samarani (University of Venice), for all the work they have put into this scheme. Thanks also go to others who assisted in the smooth operation of this program, above all the librarians of the participating libraries and Maureen Gaskin of the Finance Department of SOAS in London who assists with the financial transactions.

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1.2 Young Scholar Award

Two years ago at the Heidelberg Conference another program was initiated, namely the Young Scholar Award (YSA).We are very glad and appreciate that the CCK Foundation also funds this scheme which enables us to encourage young scholars to submit high-quality papers for this competition. The papers are evaluated by external reviewers, all specialists in their respective fields. A jury then selects the best papers and about 3 nominees for the Award are invited to attend our biennial conference to present their papers. Their travelling and accommodation expenses are reimbursed. Finally the jury decides on the winner who will receive a certificate during the conference. At the Conference in Heidelberg there were two winners: Chao-jan Chen (Université Paris VII) with a paper entitled “Character-Sense Association: A Study on Automatic Sense Determination for Chinese V-V Compounds” and Xavier Paules (University of Lyon) with a study on Canton Opium Smokers in the 1930’s. While the first paper has not yet been published, the second one has just been published in the most recent issue of East Asian History (Australia).

For the first YSA in 2004 the CCK Foundation granted us € 5,000.—of which we only consumed half the amount. Therefore we did not have to apply for new funds this year but can cover the nominees’ reimbursements from the remaining sum. As regards this year’s competition, we received altogether 23 papers that were

evaluated by external reviewers on the basis of a special catalogue of criteria. The jury set up from among the members of the Board and the local organizers consists of: Joel Bellassen, Jana Rosker, Stefania Stafutti, Tim Wright and myself. As two papers scored clearly better than all the rest, the jury decided to invite only two nominees this time. They are Rossella Ferrari and Nicolai Volland, and you just witnessed the ceremony in which Rossella Ferrari was honoured with the YSA.

We are very happy that this year so many young scholars made an effort to submit their papers. We are resolved to continue this well-received scheme and hope it will meet with the same support and will become an established, well-known and much-coveted award in Chinese Studies. The announcement of another YSA to be organized for our next conference in Lund in 2008 will be published in the Newsletter, but already now we should like to encourage young scholars to prepare papers for submission. We not only thank all participants of this year’s competition but also the reviewers on whose help this competition very much depends. Most papers were reviewed by two sinologists, so you can imagine the great number of scholars involved this year. We are happy that in fact the vast majority of scholars whom we approached agreed to evaluate one of the submitted papers which we cannot take for granted given that most of them are over-burdened. The greatest burden however was shouldered by our Secretary General Olga Lomova who was in charge of handling the

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program and who, under great pressure of time, had to manage the evaluation process. We owe her our sincere thanks.

1.3 Braga Summer School

Another major activity I have to mention is the EACS Summer School in Chinese Studies that was organized at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal, in September 2005. This event was mainly supported by the European Science Foundation; further major contributions came from the University of Minho and the Orient Foundation in Lisbon. Altogether 56 students from 16 European countries participated in the Summer School. This undertaking was a great success as is documented in a formal evaluation that took place at the end of the event. A report on the Summer School was published in the EACS Newsletter No 35 (Dec. 2005), therefore I need not go into more detail here. I should only like to stress that all the teachers are members of our Association which indeed is an indication of our potential strength. Moreover, the Summer School has certainly contributed to network-building in Chinese Studies among the various nationalities of Europe. The Board is considering the possibilities of organizing similar events in the near future and perhaps making the Summer School in Chinese Studies a regular EACS activity. On this occasion I wish to thank first of all Sun Lam who as the local organizer of the Braga Summer School took the chief responsibility; I also wish to thank all the teachers who greatly

contributed to make this event a success.

1.4 Research Projects

As to research projects organized by the EACS or under the auspices of the EACS, the Board would be ready to support proposals to the EC or ESF, however the initiative has to come from the members. Although the chances to get a research proposal approved are rather low because of high competition and because most of the instruments offered by the EC for implementing a project are beyond our capacities and means, we still think it would be worthwhile to work out a proposal. I propose we keep an eye on the research programmes offered by the EC and look for a suitable instrument, like e.g. a targeted conference or workshop involving scholars from Europe and China. As the most recent programmes have been closed, we have to wait for new ones which will probably be announced in the next few months. Experience shows that it is not easy to get a project started. As you will remember, two years ago our Board member Stefania Stafutti presented a proposal for a research project to be carried out on a Europe-wide basis and to be submitted to the ESF for funding a workshop. The suggested topic was “Humour in China” (announced in NL No 35) which I think is a wonderful subject involving various disciplines, but I am sorry to say, for lack of response we had to abandon the initiative. This experience however should not discourage us. I am sure we could be successful, for we have one big advantage over other

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bodies, and that is our Europe-wide network of Chinese Studies. Some new initiatives have already started, e.g., to include Chinese language in the European Language Framework and the European Language Passport Project. Details will be published in the Newsletter.

1.5 Publication of Conference Proceedings

Finally, I would like to mention a possible publication project. Some time ago we were approached by Cambridge Scholars Press who are interested in publishing the proceedings of this conference. The next Board will have to decide if and what kind of conference volume should be published. Some of the paper presenters might have other plans with regard to making known their research results; therefore it seems likely that we shall opt for a selection of papers which is also preferable in order to give the volume a certain coherence.

2. Communication

Our most visible instruments of communication are our Newsletter, the EACS website and, for internal use, the EACS membership database. In a few minutes you will hear more about the database in the Treasurer’s report. So let me just say a few words about the NL and the website. As you know the NL comes out twice per year. In its present form it is mainly used by the Executive Committee and a few other Board members to communicate their own business. The recommendation by the previous Board to change the

NL from a mere source of information into a forum for the exchange of ideas is strongly supported by the present Board. While this might be difficult to achieve, we should at least try to extend the NL in the sense of really making it a broad source of information reflecting the whole range of activities going on in Chinese Studies in Europe. Our NL Editor Ann Heirman has time and again appealed to the members to send her more information, but so far to little avail. I can only once again draw your attention to this matter. Another aspect concerning the NL has to be mentioned here: the mailing of the NL by e-mail. As you know postage has always been one of the major items of our expenses. In order to save money, the Executive Committee would welcome if more members agreed to receive the NL online. You would just have to change the respective entry in the database.

As regards our website, our new webmaster Luca Pisano from Torino University who has been in charge for almost two years now, is very conscientious and efficient. I think the fruits of his endeavours are visible as the website contains more and more relevant information. Nonetheless we could improve the website, e.g. by making it a forum for the exchange of ideas, a desideratum that already the previous boards voiced.

At this moment I should like to sincerely thank both Ann Heirman and Luca Pisano for the fine job they are doing and for devoting so much time to EACS matters. The same goes for our Treasurer Matthias Richter who

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not only collects the membership fees and takes care of our finances but also had to tackle all the initial problems connected with establishing the membership database and making it work smoothly.

3. Board and Executive Committee

This brings me to my third part, the work of the Board and the Executive Committee. During the past period of office, the Executive Committee consisting of the Secretary General, the Treasurer and the President met twice in Prague and the Board held two meetings here in Ljubljana. The meetings of the Executive Committee, one in June 2005, the other one in June 2006, served the purpose of preparing the Board meetings and the Conference, while the Board meetings, the first one in September 2005, the second one last Wednesday, apart from discussing ordinary business, were dedicated to the organization of this Conference and this General Assembly.

The Board spent considerable time on discussing guidelines for selecting the conference papers. As you will remember, in Heidelberg this was a problem that resulted in a recommendation by the previous Board regarding the selection of papers and the organization of panels for the biennial EACS conferences. The major points were the following:

(1) It is understood that local organizers, based on realistic appraisal of local conditions, have the right to set limits to the

number of papers which can be accommodated.

(2) The Board appoints convenors who have the authority to select papers within the parameters set by the Board.

In accordance with these two principles, the present Board left the decision which papers were to be presented to the convenors and referees, of course within the limits set by the organizers. However, the Board favoured a more flexible attitude and therefore added some guidelines to the above-mentioned principles. We agreed that quality should be a major criterion for selecting papers, but at the same time a reasonable distribution of topics and national representation should be taken into account. We also authorized the convenors to suggest the arrangement of panels and to ask the participants to accommodate their papers to the general theme of a panel. On the whole these guidelines proved practicable, and we did not have any major problems. Yet it remains a problem that the reviewers have different standards which necessarily result in inconsistencies.

Furthermore, the Board in great detail discussed the sections and selected the convenors for the sections. We reinstalled the section on Politics and International Relations and added four more sections: Law, Anthropology & Sociology, Environment & Ecology, as well as Intercultural Approaches.

Regarding the Board meetings, a problem has come up which is not new but perhaps becoming more and

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more acute. It concerns the reimbursement of travelling expenses to the Board members. A couple of years ago there was a decision against reimbursement, I myself had been a strong supporter of this decision. However, I had to change my mind, because I see the difficulties in getting the Board members to attend Board meetings, some of whom do not come because of the travelling expenses. Most Board members cannot get reimbursement from their universities. On the one hand we depend on their attendance, because according to our constitution Board meetings require a quorum of at least a majority of its 24 members. In other words, unless at least 13 Board members attend the meetings, no decisions can be made. On the other hand, I think we cannot ask the Board members to pay for the meetings themselves given that they already spend quite some time (normally 3 days) for attending a Board meeting.

In this situation, the Board on its meeting in Sept. 2005 decided on a compromise, that is not to reimburse all travelling expenses but only part of them. Moreover, partial reimburse-ment should only be granted for the Board meetings in between the biennial conferences, not for the meetings that take place during the conferences. As suggested by the Executive Committee, it was decided to set aside a certain amount of money for reimbursing part of the travelling expenses. The money was to be distributed proportionally according to the individual expenses, and as you will see in the accounts submitted by the Treasurer we actually used very

little money, due to the fact that only half of the Board members attended the meeting. We ask for your understanding in this matter, and I hope you agree to the procedure that we practiced last year so that in future we could handle the problem in the proposed way.

4. Relations with other Associations

Finally, let me say a few words on our relations with other associations, especially with EASL, the European Association of Sinological Librarians. In the past we have again and again expressed our interest and wish to have EASL representatives attend our conferences. However, I am sorry so say, to no great avail (and I think this is partly our own fault). At the Torino Conference in 2000 EASL representa-tives reported on recent developments in European Sinological Libraries but since then nothing like this has happened again. I do not know if in Torino there was a special section on libraries. Anyway, the attendance rate did not seem to have been very satisfying. In order to guarantee a larger audience to this field so important for all of us, I think it would be wiser to integrate the librarians’ report into our General Assembly. I should therefore like to propose that we invite the Chairman of EASL to our next conference so that he or she could give a report at the GA.

As to the International Convention of Asia Scholars, ICAS 5 will take place in August 2007 in Kuala Lumpur. This will be the third time that ICAS will be hosted in Asia. As far as I know the EACS Board was not officially

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involved in the organization of the last two conventions and it remains to be seen if the EACS Board will be approached by the organizers of ICAS 5. This Board’s policy vis-à-vis ICAS 4 has been not to send an official delegate to Shanghai. Instead we decided that in case a Board member would attend ICAS 4, he or she should represent the EACS by giving a short welcome address or something like that. This policy will most probably be also practised with regard to ICAS 5.

Thank you for your attention.

Brunhild

REPORT FROM THE SECRETARY

This summer’s conference in Ljubljana marked the last occasion for Olga Lomova as Secretary-General of the Association. EACS owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Olga for her tireless service over the years. Olga’s energy in setting the agenda for the Board meetings, communicating with members and colleagues, and administering EACS initiatives both during and in-between our biennial conference have truly been invaluable.

In Ljubljana the General Assembly elected a new Board which met to discuss the agenda for the next cycle leading up to our conference in Lund in 2008. During the meeting the guidelines and deadlines for the Young Scholar Award and the CCK library travel grant scheme were updated. They can be found in this newsletter and are posted on the EACS website. The new Board will

meet next August in Lund. Items planned for discussion will include, among others, a review of procedures for referees and convenors of conference panels, the promotion of our on-line membership database as well as review procedures for the Young Scholar Award. EACS members who would like to bring any other matters to the attention of the Board are very welcome to contact me.

Roel Sterckx

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REPORT FROM THE TREASURER

Dear EACS members,

At the conference this summer I delivered the biennial treasurer’s report and here I present the data to those who could not be present in Ljubljana.

The situation as of 16 July 2006 is as shown in the overview below:

CUSTODY ACCOUNT

I have left the composition of this account, as arranged by the former treasurer, unchanged: three types of bond shares, all with an extremely small interest margin, but guaranteeing safety against losses on the stock market and availability at any time. The volume of the custody account amounted to € 39,228.36 on 28 February 2005 and has still basically the same value now.A: DIT-Euro Rentenfonds 488.313 x €40.82 = € 19,932.94B: DIT-Stiftungsfonds Bonds 103.322 x €97.16 = € 10,038.77C: DIT-Dresd.Bk.GeldmarktfondsSpez. 179.231 x €52.00 = € 9,320.01total value = € 39,291.72

GIRO ACCOUNT

EXPENDITURES

5,000.00 newsletter1,378.98 travel costs (board meeting in Ljubljana)248.48 travel costs (takeover of treasurer’s

affairs in Munich)234.45 travel costs (designing of database in

Heidelberg)104.80 travel costs (meeting of executive

committee in Prague)1,300.00 65 hrs. work of programmer on EACS

database537.39 fees for electronic credit card payment207.00 bank fees60.97 address labels68.00 postage= 9,140.07 total expenditures

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INCOME

4,653.34 membership fees (cash or bank transfer)+ 2,691.79 membership fees (Visa)+ 471.86 membership fees (MasterCard)+ 287.30 membership fees (AmEx)= 8,104.29 membership fees, total

10,377.15 from former treasurer+ 8,104.29 membership fees, total = 18, 481.44 total income

BALANCE

18, 481.44 total income- 9,140.07 total expenditures= 9,341.37 balance (on giro account 30 June 2006)

giro account, 30 June 2006 €9,341.37 custody account, 16 July 2006 €39,291.72TOTAL EACS ASSETS €48,633.09

(The giro account has increased to €13,813.36 by 30 October 2006, because many members paid their membership fees during and after the conference.)

Comments: The sum spent on the newsletter, which amounts to over half of the total expenditure, covers the costs for at least three issues. Another major part of the expenses was spent on travel: Almost €250 were needed for taking over the treasurer’s job, and c. €100 for attending a meeting of the executive committee. Almost €1,400 were needed for reimbursement of board members who attended the board meeting in Ljubljana in 2005 to prepare this year’s conference. In total, travel expenses amount to 21% of the expenditures, but they are actually indispensable for running the organisation.

Large expenses were incurred over the past two years by the establishment of an EACS membership database. €1,300 have been spent on the payment for 65 hrs. of programming, and my journey to Heidelberg to work out the basic design of the database with the programmer cost additional c. €200. Work was later continued over the phone. The database will be very useful for the EACS and will in the long run save the organisation much more money than it originally costed. With the database we will be able to match the previously not entirely consistent and complete data in the Secretary’s and my own files and are now able to organise electronic distribution of the newsletter and other information,

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which again reduces costs. Besides, in the past years invalid address data caused unnecessary postage costs and, by the way, additional work on the part of our newsletter editor.Another advantage of the database will be that now each member can check his/her own payment status at any time as well as update the adress or other relevant data. Of course payment data for other members are only accessible to the administrators of the database, i.e. the executive committee of the board. I would like to strongly encourage members to update their entry in the database in cases of change of address and the like. The database can now also be used as a source of information for all members. Membership data of all members, except for payment data, are accessible to all members who have password access to the database. The data will not be open to the public outside EACS. Any members who do not wish to have their data disclosed even to other members can deny access to others easily by just ticking a box. Their data will then just as before only be displayed to the administrators.I would like to encourage all members who have not yet done so to request access to the database and enter their data. As a rule I send confirmation when I receive a payment, but cannot do so when I have no e-mail address of the sender. You may receive such confirmation of payment only after several weeks, because I check the account statement only once a month when it is sent to me by the bank. Credit card payment forms as well as other mail sent to the University of Hamburg are also forwarded to me at approximately monthly intervals.

It has been agreed at the 2005 board meeting in Ljubljana:– to leave the annual membership

dues unchanged at € 20 (reduced fees of € 10 applying to students and to members from Eastern European non-EU countries);

– to accept payment of membership dues for up to 4 years in advance;

– to encourage payment by bank transfer from members living within the Euro-zone and other countries with similarly favourable conditions of bank transfer and to prefer cash payment at conferences from members living elsewhere, thus reducing loss of money entailed both by high international bank fees and credit card payment.

For members from other countries, who do not attend the conference, credit card payment is probably more advisable. However, we had to discontinue MasterCard payment because of the relatively high costs for EACS and scarce use by members. Please remember to always state for whom payment is made and for which years. Ordering the bank to trace unknown senders of payments is extremely costly and can thus not be undertaken.

Please also note that future newsletters will be sent only to members whose address has been entered in the database. It is extremely time-consuming to collate the new addresses with the old files and then produce the right sets of address labels from the different sources. Moreover, many of the newsletters sent to the addresses from the old files are returned as undeliverable, which causes EACS unnecessary expenses. As I have

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announced earlier already, whoever should find themselves unable to enter their data into the database will be welcome to request a form (either as a word file or a paper printout) and return this to me with the necessary data. I will then complete the entry in the database myself.

Matthias Richter

EACS ELECTIONS OF NEW BOARD

The EACS Board is made up of 24 members, including the President. Since several members had completed their full period of service this year, new Board members were elected at the General Assembly held in Ljubljana. 

The following board members were elected:

Dušan ANDRŠ, Institute of East Asian Studies, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, 47 votes (2006)[email protected]

Joel BELLASSEN, National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO), Paris, France, 40 votes (2004)[email protected]

Anna BUSQUETS, Open University of Catalonia/Pompeu Fabra University, School of East Asian Studies, Barcelona, Spain, 69 votes (2006)[email protected]@upf.edu

Carine DEFOORT, Catholic Univer-sity of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 45 votes (2002)[email protected]

Halvor EIFRING, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, 66 votes (2004)[email protected]

Denise GIMPEL, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 58 votes (2004)[email protected]

Svetlana GORBUNOVA, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Moscow, Russ. Fed., 52 votes (2006)[email protected]

Barend ter HAAR, Sinological Institute, Leiden, The Netherlands, 48 votes (2006)[email protected]

Imre HAMAR, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary, 33 votes (2002)[email protected]

Ann HEIRMAN, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, 82 votes (2002)[email protected]

Thomas KAMPEN, Institut für Sinologie, Heidelberg, Germany, 64 votes (2006)[email protected]

Frank KRAUSHAAR, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia, 72 votes (2006)[email protected]

Barbara LEONESI, Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di

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Orientalistica, Torino, Italy, 56 votes (2006)[email protected]

Tiziana LIPPIELLO, Università Ca’ Foscari, Department of East Asian Studies, Venezia, Italy, 71 votes (2006)[email protected]

Cecilia MILWERTZ, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen, Denmark, 58 votes (2004)[email protected]

Lauri PALTEMAA, Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland, 57 votes (2004)[email protected]

Irina POPOVA, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russ. Fed., 42 votes (2002)[email protected]

Matthias RICHTER, University of Hamburg, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Hamburg, Germany, 87 votes (2004)[email protected]

Jana ROŠKER, Department of Asian and African Studies, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 74 votes (2002)[email protected]

Brunhild STAIGER, Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg, Germany, president of [email protected]

Roel STERCKX, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 73 votes (2006)[email protected]

SUN Lam, Centre of Oriental Studies, University of Minho Braga, Portugal, 63 votes (2002)[email protected]

Marina SVENSSON, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University, Sweden, 65 votes (2002)[email protected]

Tim WRIGHT, School of east Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, 80 votes (2002)[email protected]

The following account auditors were elected by the General Assembly by direct vote:Wolfgang Behr, University of Bochum, [email protected] Bart Dessein, University of Ghent, [email protected]

At the first meeting of the new Board in Ljubljana, a new executive committee was elected:

President: Brunhild Staiger, Institute of Asian Affairs [email protected]

Treasurer: Matthias Richter, Uni-versity of [email protected]

Secretary: Roel Sterckx, Cambridge [email protected]

The Vice-Secretary will be Ann Heirman, University of [email protected]

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Tim Wright (University of Sheffield) was elected as [email protected]

Our webmaster will be Luca Pisano, University of [email protected]

The newsletter will continue in the hands of Ann Heirman, University of [email protected]

As for the next conference venue in 2010: we received only one preliminaryproposal submitted during the General Assembly in Ljubljana by Frank Kraushaar: Riga/Latvia. In the meantime Riga University has confirmed that it would welcome to host the conference and the Board approved the bid. This means that the XVIIIth EACS Conference will be held in Riga, Latvia.

YOUNG SCHOLAR AWARD RESULTS

The EACS Secretary received 23 applications for the 2006 YSA to be awarded for the second time during the XVIth conference of the EACS in Ljubljana. Each paper was reviewed by two independent reviewers selected from among distinguished scholars within the broad field of “sinology”. As two papers scored much better than all the others, the jury decided to invite only two nominees to the conference in Ljubljana. They were:

Rossella Ferrari (SOAS) with a paper entitled “Pop Goes the Avant-garde –

Meng Jinghui and the Latest Developments in Chinese Avant-garde Theatre“ andNicolai Volland (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) with a paper entitled “The Linguistic Enclave: Translation and Language Policies in the Early PRC“.Both nominees presented their papers on the first morning of the conference. After the presentation the jury consisting of Olga Lomova (Prague), Jana Rosker (Ljubljana), Stefania Stafutti (Torino), Brunhild Staiger (Hamburg), and Tim Wright (Sheffield) discussed the papers again and decided to give the Award to Rossella Ferrari who was honoured with a certificate.

The Board thanks all the applicants for taking part in the competition. We hope that the next competition in 2008 will meet with the same response.

YOUNG SCHOLAR AWARD 2008

The EACS board is happy to announce again the EACS Young Scholar Award (YSA). The purpose of this award is to encourage research on Chinese studies among young scholars, especially those studying and working at European institutions. The Young Scholar Award has been made possible through the generous support by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. It was first awarded during the 2004 biennial conference in Heidelberg. The next YSA will be announced at the XVIIth biennial conference in Lund, Sweden, in the summer of 2008.

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Eligibility:

Candidates for the YSA should be 35 years of age or below AND their rank of academic employment should be below that of Associate Professor or Senior Lecturer or the equivalent ranks in other systems. The members of the jury welcome papers of high scholarly promise engaging primary sources, secondary scholarship, and innovative research methodologies relevant to the field. Papers should be written in English; only single-authored papers will be accepted. Papers should preferably be unpublished, however, candidates may also submit papers which are under review for publication in a scholarly journal at the time of the 2008 EACS conference. Each applicant may submit only one paper of a maximum of 8000 to 8500 words (approximately 50.000 characters), with a one-page abstract. The copy should include the author's full name, institution, and address.

The EACS jury hopes to nominate 3 to 5 candidates. Nominees will be given subsidies (travel cost, per diem expenses and registration fee) to attend the EACS conference in Lund where their papers will be presented during a special session. The winner of the YSA will be announced during the conference and honoured with the award of a certificate. It is expected that candidates submitting papers for the Young Scholar Award are or will be registered as EACS members by the time of the biennial EACS conference.

The deadline for submission of both abstracts and papers is 15 January, 2008. Proof of age and rank should be

provided at the time of submission. Please send papers and abstracts by e-mail AND in hard-copy to the EACS Secretary Dr Roel Sterckx, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, United Kingdom, [email protected].

Applicants who encounter difficulties in mailing the copy of their work should contact the Secretary of EACS.

CHIANG CHING-KUO FOUNDATION LIBRARY

TRAVEL GRANT REPORT 2005

As in 2004, the EACS received also in 2005 10,000.00 € from the CCK Foundation to fund the Library Travel Programme. In 2005, eleven applications were approved. Of these, eight came from East European countries and three from West European countries. Seven recipients were (postgraduate) students and four senior researchers. The most frequented libraries were those in London (5 visits) followed by Paris (2), Leiden (2) and one visit each to Heidelberg and Munich. Six visits concerned modern and five pre-modern China.

List of grants

Dmitry Lvov (student), St. Petersburg/RussiaResearch Topic: Life and work of Wang AnyiVisited Library: Leiden

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Filip Suchomel (student), Prague/ Czech RepublicResearch Topic: Chinese and Japanese lacquer wareVisited Library: London

Martin Hosek (student), Prague/Czech RepublicResearch Topic: Czechoslovak Legion in Manchuria 1918-20Visited Library: London

Aglaia De Angeli (student), ItalyResearch Topic: Women and crime in Shanghai 1911-49Visited Library: London

Isabella Labedzka (professor), Warszawa/PolandResearch Topic: Ritual theatre in China and Taiwan Visited Library: Paris

Sofia Graziani (student), ItalyResearch Topic: China’s primary youth political organisation 1962-82Visited Library: Heidelberg

S.A. Toroptsev (professor), RussiaResearch Topic: Li PoVisited Library: Leiden

Imre Hamar (professor), Budapest/ HungaryResearch Topic: Avatamsaka-Sutra and its Chinese commentaries Visited Library: London

Albert Galvany (student), SpainResearch Topic: Politics and war in early China: Hanfeizi Visited Library: Paris

Jurij Kroll (professor), St. Petersburg/ RussiaResearch Topic: Han Dynasty Standard Histories Visited Library: Munich

Anna Bondarenko (student), Moscow/ RussiaResearch Topic: Problems concerning contemporary XinjiangVisited Library: London

CHIANG CHING-KUO FOUNDATION LIBRARY

TRAVEL GRANT

In 2006-2007 the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation continues its generous support to EACS by funding one-week visits for specialised research in Sinological libraries in Cambridge, Heidelberg, Leiden, London, Oxford, Paris or Munich.

Applications received before the two deadlines of March 20th and October 20th will be considered within 3 weeks after receipt. Applicants should be Sinologists based permanently in Europe and preferably paid-up members of the EACS. Applications from non-members will be considered, however, especially in case of students and young scholars (up to 35 years), if accompanied by a recommendation letter from an EACS member.  Priorities are given to applicants as follows:a. Central and Eastern Europe studentsb. Western Europe students

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c. Central and Eastern Europe scholarsd. Western Europe scholars APPLICATIONS must include:

1) a letter stating the library to be visited and intended dates of travel; 2) a statement of purpose, to include a short description of the research project, including precise indication of the sources and material to be used (the easiest way to obtain this information is to consult the electronic catalogues of the respective libraries accessible also through the EACS website).3) a written statement obtained from the Librarian of the institute where the proposed visit is to take place confirming that the research materials required are available for consultation;4) a one-page curriculum vitae with a list of main publications (in case of more advanced scholars);5) a statement of the travelling expenses (Apex economy airfare or 2nd class rail fare), including a note of other sources of funding;6) in the case of Ph.D. students, a letter of recommendation from their supervisor; 7) in the case of non-members, a letter of recommendation from an EACS member; 8) address for correspondence, including fax and E-mail where possible.

APPLICATIONS should be sent to the following coordinators:

1) for research on pre-modern China (i.e. before 1840) to Dr. Bernhard Fuehrer, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, Thornhaugh

Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG, United Kingdom. Fax: +44 (0) 20 7898 4239. E-mail: [email protected]. Dr. Fuehrer is able to process applications sent by e-mail only.

2) for research on modern China (i.e. from 1840) to Dr. Thomas Kampen, Sinologisches Seminar, Heidelberg University, Akademiestraße 4-8, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

  PAYMENT OF GRANTS

1) If applications are approved, grants will be made to include travelling expenses and a per diem allowance, which will vary from place to place. 2) The grants will be paid on completion of the visit only. 3) Applicants who, due to special circumstances, need to receive the grant in advance, should indicate so in their application.4) On completion of their visit, all scholars should obtain a letter signed by the Librarian, certifying that the visit has been made and specifying the dates when it began and ended. 5) All scholars should send the Librarian’s letter directly to the president of EACS Dr. Brunhild STAIGER, Institut fur Asienkunde, Rothenbaumchaussee 32, DE-20148 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. The EACS president is in charge of the financial administration of the grant. 6) Upon completion of the visit, a brief report should be sent to the EACS Secretary, Dr. Roel Sterckx (e-mail: [email protected]). Any publication using material collected under this

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program should include acknowledge-ment of help received from the CCK Foundation. LIBRARIANS (For further details about the libraries see our website or the website of the European Association of Sinological Librarians at: www.easl.org)  FRANCE: Delphine Spicq, Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, Collège de France, 52 rue du Cardinal Lemoine, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. Fax: +33-1-44 27 18 79. E-mail: [email protected]  GERMANY: Ms A. Labitzky-Wagner, Sinologisches Seminar, Universität Heidelberg, Akademiestrasse 4-8, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Fax: +49-6221-54-24-39. E-mail: [email protected]. Renate Stephan at the Bavarian State Library, Section East Asia, Fax +49-89-28636-2805. [email protected]  NETHERLANDS: Hanno Lecher M.A., Sinologisch Instituut, Arsenaalstraat 1, 2311CT, Leiden, The Netherlands. Fax: 71-27-226-15. E-mail: [email protected]  UNITED KINGDOM: Charles Aylmer, Chinese Section, University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, United Kingdom. Fax: +44-1223-333-160. E-mail: [email protected]

Ms Sue Small, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG, UK. Fax: +44-171-436-38-44. E-mail: [email protected] Frances Wood, British Library, Chinese Section, Oriental & India Office Collections, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB, UK. Fax: +44-171-412-78-58. E-mail: [email protected] David Helliwell, Bodleian Library, Oxford, OX1 3BG, United Kingdom. Fax: +-44-1865-277132. E-mail: [email protected]

RESEAU ASIE – ASIA NETWORK

The Réseau Asie – Asia Network, also referred to as IMASIE – Institut des Mondes asiatiques, wants to participate with other organizations in the exchange of knowledge, in the dialogue between East and West and in providing an outlet for the experiences and knowledge of researchers as much in France and Europe as in Asia and America, in order to maximize the number of participants (Jean-François Sabouret, director of Réseau-Asie, Senior research fellow, CNRS). In order to stimulate interdisciplinary research projects among specialists of Asian cultures and disciplines, and to stress to the public the importance of improving knowledge of the different Asian worlds, the network has also chosen to organize a Congress every two years, and publish the syntheses, which will profit not only the milieu of research but also a wider public, with the entirety of all the communications, more technical and detailed, being

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accessible. To achieve this, the Réseau Asie - Asia Network, whose technical and administrative coordi-nation is undertaken by Jeanne Goffinet (Chargé de mission, Ministry of National Education), has created a Website which is updated daily, and aims to offer extensive information on research and aca-demic activities in France: http://www.reseau-asie.com.

SYNTHESIS OF THE LAST CONGRESS (2005)The second Congress of the francophone Réseau Asie - Asia Network, which was held on the 28th, 29th and 30th of September, 2005 in Paris, proved that a new research dynamics, extended by scientific inter-disciplinarity and Asian inter-culturality, could be put in place in research and academic circles, and between the doctorate students or young postdocs and experts in the subject. Papers were divided into five main themes: (1) Economic dynamics; (2) Geopolitics and territories; (3) Ideologies, politics and religions; (4) Knowledge, environments and societies; (5) Literature and the Arts. The syntheses of the 2005 congress are being published (Paris, Editions Indes savantes, 2006) with a short presentation in English, and the papers are directly available on the website (full papers in French, presentation and abstracts available also in English). More than 40 communications regarding China took place in more than 20 workshops.

PREPARATION OF THE NEXT CONGRESS (2007)The 2005 Congress confirmed the appropriateness of organizing around a flexible network structure, in order to stimulate and coordinate research about Asia without ever trying to impose or control it, to remain open to the initiatives of researchers and labora-tories, of scholarly or professional associations, of academic establish-ments and institutions. Its objective is to create common initiatives, promote development of research and cross-disciplinary thought, to stimulate comparative approaches in the study of Asia and with Asia. It plans for five outcomes: (1) an Internet site for information on research initiatives, activities and studies concerning Asia; (2) a European database of researchers and experts on Asia; (3) a framework proposing inter-disciplinary research themes about Asia; (4) a place of partnerships promoting projects across different disciplines and skills; (5) a French language biennial Congress bringing together researchers and experts from Europe and Asia.All the information concerning the 2007 congress will be available on the Website. Scholars will be invited to submit proposals for panels to be presented at the congress. “Réseau Asie” is a francophone network, but, in order to welcome non French-speaking researchers wishing to participate, they may be helped with the translation of their paper into French and with the preparation of their oral presentation.

Contact: [email protected]: http://www.reseau-asie.com

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CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS

APPEL A ATELIERS; 3ième CONGRES 2007 DU RESEAU ASIE

Date provisoire du 3ième congrès: 26-27-28 septembre 2007, Paris

Objectif : Le congrès est destiné à faire connaître des travaux originaux sur l'Asie avec l'objectif de promouvoir les ateliers transdiscipli-naires et transculturels à l'ensemble de la communauté scientifique et à un public intéressé par l’Asie.

Langue : La langue du congrès est le français mais les présentations des ateliers et les résumés des communi-cations seront tous mis en ligne en français et en anglais.  Si  une version en langues asiatiques est disponible, elle sera également diffusée.

Public : Comme les deux premiers, ce 3ème congrès est ouvert à tous les enseignants, chercheurs, enseignants-chercheurs et experts sur l’Asie et l’Océanie y compris les doctorants.

Calendrier prévisionnel:

PROPOSITIONS A ENVOYER AVANT FIN DECEMBRE 2006

- Dès maintenant jusqu'au fin décembre 2007, les propositions d'atelier ou de participation à atelier sont à adresser à

<[email protected]>, au secrétariat du Réseau Asie sous fichier Word ou Rtf. Comme un atelier dure  2h, il est vivement  conseillé de limiter le nombre des  intervenants à quatre. Chaque exposé sera d’environ 20 minutes. Les discussions suivront soit après tous les exposés pendant environ 20 à 30 minutes, soit après chaque exposé pendant environ 5 à 10 minutes.

- La proposition qui précisera si c’est un atelier constitué ou si c’est une proposition individuelle en vue d’une participation à un atelier comprendra :

a) le titre, le résumé de l’atelier avec l’indication d’un maximum de dix mots-clés (1/2 page)

b) la liste des intervenants, et pour chaque personne, son titre académique, son organisme de rattachement administratif,  son adresse électronique, le titre et le résumé de sa communication (1/3 page).

Elle sera rédigée dans un premier en français, puis dans les autres langues par la suite.

Website : http://www.reseau-asie.com

SHANGHAI FORUM 2007: ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION AND THE CHOICE OF ASIA: INNOVATION, COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Shanghai Forum is an international academic forum hosted by Fudan University and funded by KFAS. With the mission of “concentrating on Asia, focusing on hot issues, congregating

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elites, promoting interactions, enhancing cooperation and seeking consensus”, it endeavors to construct a communication platform for the elites from “the academic, political and business circles”. The Forum provides for multi-dimensional and in-depth academic research into the important issues of the global economy and the international situation, especially development and cooperation in the fields of energy sources, information and finance. The goal is to promote the overall development of the economies, politics, societies and cultures of Asia by soliciting strategic suggestions on policies and reaching a mutual consensus on development.

I. Theme of the Shanghai Forum 2007The Shanghai Forum 2007 will maintain the same theme of “Economic Globalization and the Choice of Asia”. Therefore, we would like to solicit papers from scholars in China and abroad on the following topics:

Economic Structures and Common Market in Asia

Industrial Structure and Energy Cooperation in Asia

Financial Order and Monetary Cooperation in AsiaII. Proposed topics for the Shanghai Forum 2007Within the framework of the themes of the Shanghai Forum 2007, we have listed the following topics as the initial sub-forum themes for domestic and overseas scholars to consider. The papers should center on research into Asian economies, and may refer to the

good experience and practices of regions outside Asia. - The overall competitiveness of the Asian economies in the process of economic globalization.- Regional divisions and economic in-tegration- Economic restructuring and distribu-tion of manufacturing- Industrial structure and energy con-sumption- Energy strategies and mechanisms for international cooperation - Innovation and distribution of infor-mation technology industry - Exchange rate determining mecha-nisms and the fluctuations in key international exchange rates- Asian financial markets and monetary cooperation - Competition and cooperation among financial centers- The Era of Asia in the course of economic globalization- The political, social and cultural foundation of economic cooperation and development in Asia

III. Time Schedule of the Forum

May 24, 2007: Registration (CROWNE PLAZA near Fudan University)May 25 – 27: ConferenceMay 28: City Tour

IV. Notes1. Scholars from the relevant social science fields are welcome to present their research findings in Shanghai Forum. Anyone who wishes to deliver a speech in Chinese in the Forum shall send us the full text (no more than

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15,000 Chinese words) before January 15, 2007. As for the English papers, the author should send us the abstract in English (no more than one page) before December 31, 2006. With reference to these abstracts, the Shanghai Forum Organizing committee will decide on the list of invitees around January 31; and those in the list should send us the full text (no more than 20 pages) before March 15, 2007. Shanghai Forum will publicize the list of the speakers whose Chinese or English papers are selected before January 31, 2007, and extend official invitation letters to them. 2. Please submit your paper in formatted in Word and email it as an attachment to [email protected]. Please use “Shanghai Forum 2007 Submission” as your e-mail title.3. The working languages are Chinese and English.4. As an interdisciplinary conference, Shanghai Forum welcomes participants from various academic fields, government departments and corporations. Therefore, the speaker shall limit his/her presentation to 20 minutes and make it easy to understand and discuss (try not to use math and statistics in the presentation). Moreover, the speaker shall give a PPT copy of the speech to our staff during registration and also bring it in a U disk to the venue.5. The Shanghai Forum Organizing Committee will provide fare subsidy and accommodation for all the VIP guests and speakers during the conference. They are also exempt from any conference fee. All participants (except those with special requests) of the Forum shall purchase their own tickets. Participants from the Chinese

mainland should provide economy class tickets (or train tickets) for reimbursement; participants from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries should provide economy class electronic tickets or ticket receipts for reimbursement. 6. The Shanghai Forum Organizing Committee will offer free airport pick-up and drop-off one day before and after the Forum.

Address: Shanghai Forum Organizing Committee, Fudan University, 220 Handan Rd., Shanghai, China; Post Code: 200433Contact: Ms. Zhang Yan, Ms Zhu XianxiaoTel: +86-21-55664665 55664590Fax: [email protected], [email protected].

EUROPEAN REFERENCE INDEX FOR HUMANITIES

The European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH) project was started in 2001. The idea behind the project was to create a European substitute for the Thomson’s Arts and Humanities Citation Index, which is generally agreed to be inadequate. However it soon became clear that it is not easy for research in the broad field of Humanities (in this case humanities are understood as a broad spectrum of fields and topics covering both the social sciences as well as the humanties in the strict sense of the word) to be measured by a concise citation index. As a result the project was transformed into a “reference index” project, at the

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moment leaving the issue of research assement open.

ERIH is a Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) Research Infrastructures project, run by the European Science Foundation, which aims to develop an efficient and accessible research infrastructure, namely a scientific reference index. The first results will be an open access list of categorised journals, which will serve the research community as a simple benchmarking tool and constitute the basis for the later development of a fully-fledged reference index. At the moment the expert panels for individual fields have finished their work and submitted the results to ESF. We expect the definitive publication of the journal list by the end of this year.

In 2004 Hans van Ess and Olga Lomova representing EACS joined the Oriental and African Studies Panel which served as one of the advisory boards for the future reference index. The panel included 6 members expert in various fields of “Oriental and African Studies” and met twice (in December 2005 and in September 2006) to discuss a list of some 700 journals including journals (and fields) from Abr Nahrain and Acta Asiatica to Zimbabwe Law Review. On the list, there were some 50 journals dealing with China in some respect. (For this purpose we substantially expanded the original list prepared by the EACS board in 2004.) In the time between these meetings we exchanged some correspondence expanding the list and also commenting on the criteria of selection and categorisation, since an

A, B, C scale was demanded. After the second meeting was over, we still provided some supplementary data to the list.

During the panel meetings we extensively discussed the following issues:

1) Demarcation of the A, B, C categories

2) Inclusion of non-European journals in the list

3) Inclusion of topics and fields originally not covered in the list provided by ESF and related expertise including the demarcation of “Oriental and African Studies”, which in the end had to include also such topics as for example Austronesian linguistics or studies about the Caucasus

4) Inclusion of journals dealing with art, archaeology, theatre and music

A great deal of our discussions, both formal and informal, was also invested with worries about the possible future use of the Index, once it becomes “canonised” by ESF. As a result our panel concluded its work with the following recommendation:

“The panel wishes to express its persistent concern that the lists, once published, will be used for other purposes than those for which they were created. The panel is aware of the ESF's aim to create a list of journals that are regarded as acceptable means of communication in the various disciplines that make up research in the Humanities. Nonetheless, such a list may easily be come to be regarded as

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an easy means to evaluate research, for which it is not suited. The panel hopes that the ESF will do its best to prevent such inappropriate use of the final list and will inform all organisations concerned of the risks involved in mechanical evaluation on the basis of the data in the list.”

For further details about the project please go to the website of Europe Science Foundation

http://www.esf.org/esf_article.php?language=0&article=594&domain=4&activity=9

Olga Lomova

CHINA BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE

The exhibition, hosted at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, Italy (www.scuderiequirinale.it) from September 22, 2006 to January 28, 2007, presents over 320 archaeological objects – some never before exhibited outside mainland China – from 14 Chinese museums, spanning over ten centuries of Chinese history, from the Zhou Kingdom (1045-221 BC) to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 23) and superbly staged by the stage director Luca Ronconi. In room 1 we see 56 terracotta statues in straight lines of horsemen and soldiers, and of male, female and eunuch servants, found in pits near the tombs of the fourth Han Emperor, Jingdi (r. 157-141 BC) and his consort (d. 126 BC), in Yangling (Shaanxi). Their armour, weapons and clothes, originally made of wood, have rotted

away, as have their arms, so that they now appear as anatomically correct but armless naked statues. Alongside, two horses, four dogs, four pigs, two oxen and four goats keep them company. In this room the visitor can admire four “naked” black male statues found in Hongqingyuan (Shaanxi), in the tomb of Empress Bo, consort of the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (r. 206-195 BC), a huge gilded bronze vase, a pair of jars, and a pair of model granaries plus a wild boar, all made of baked clay with lead glaze.In room 2, on two daises facing each other, we find rows of funerary statues in painted terracotta that were found in Yangjiawan (Shaanxi) near the tombs of two famous army officers: Zhou Bo (d. 169 BC) and his son Zhou Yafu (d. 143 BC): 40 horsemen and 25 infantrymen, varying in height from 47 to 68 cm, belonging to a military formation of about 2000 pieces. The daises also display 25 smaller horsemen found in Changling (Shaanxi), in the tomb of the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. In the same room, a tiny bronze immortal discovered in 1964 in Xi’an, two so-called “bi” discs and two bronze mirrors are also exhibited. In the centre of room 3 a background of black tulle sets off the gleaming shape of what seems to be a body: it is actually a pale-green jade suit originally made for a king of Chu, in the south of the empire, between 175 and 154 BC. In rooms 4 and 5, moving backwards in time, we come to the dawning of the empire. The exhibition displays some figures of the enormous terracotta army of Qin Shihuangdi, China’s First Emperor (r. 221-210 a.C.): soldiers,

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officers, charioteers, servants, horses. Of particular interest are five figures from the three pits uncovered between 1999 and 2003: two athletic men identified as acrobats, a pair of statues, one kneeling and the other seated, probably representing musicians and a civilian official. In the last room on this floor one of the 64 battle chariots located in Pit 2 has been reassembled, the chariot team consisting of three soldiers.The five rooms on the second floor are dedicated to the Zhou Dynasty with bronzes, lacquerwares and jades from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC.). Moreover, the visitor can admire the extraordinary lacquerwares and bronzes from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (d. 433 BC): the coffin for one of his concubines, the elegant deer, the famous and unique bird-shaped drum support, a sort of crane with deer antlers and the complete set of stone chimes. Among the impressive ceremonial bronzes produced in Northern China during the Western Zhou (1045-770 BC) are some objects discovered at Zhuangbai (Fufeng, Shaanxi province), and some bronzes never seen outside mainland China before, such as the wine vessel in the shape of a naked kneeling woman, dating from the very beginning of the dynasty. Lionello Lanciotti (Università degli Studi di Napoli l’Orientale) and Maurizio Scarpari (Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia), are the curators of the exhibition, with Attilio Andreini, Tiziana Lippiello, Sabrina Rastelli (Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia) and Roberto Ciarla (Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale, Roma) as collaborators.

Tiziana LippielloUniversità Ca’ Foscari, Venezia

ANNIVERSARY OF JAROSLAV PRUSEK

This year we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jaroslav Průšek (1906 – 1980), the founder of Sinology in the Czech Republic and also one of the active participants in the Junior Sinologues Conference, the pre-cursor of EACS. The anniversary was remembered in Prague at the Charles University by an international conference organized on October 13–14 2006 by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation International Sinological Centre in Prague together with the CCK-F Inter-University Center for Sinological Studies at Harvard University. The conference titled Paths towards Modernity focused on issues dealing with developments in Chinese literature as well as thought and society from the late Ming to the May Fourth Movement. The choice of the topic was inspired by some of the ideas Jaroslav Průšek expressed in his work, though never elaborating on them in greater detail. The papers presented at the conference will be published by Karolinum (Charles University Press) next year. (For further details, including the abstracts see http://cck-isc.ff.cuni.cz/.) On the occasion a volume of personal recollections about Professor Průšek was prepared by his former student Milena Doleželová-Velingerová, and published in Prague. It is bilingual (English and Czech) and contains personal essays by seventeen scholars

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from Europe and America as well as some unique photographs of Jaroslav Průšek. Though the book is largely of local interest to Czech sinologists, I believe it provides an interesting glimpse into the broader history of European sinology.

Olga Lomova

CELEBRATING CHRISTOPH HARBSMEIER’S 60th BIRTHDAY

In connection with Christoph Harbsmeier’s 60th birthday on April 16th this year, one of his former students, Dr. Christoph Anderl, took the initiative to put together a volume of articles by leading scholars on a wide range of sinological topics, including oracle bones and bronze inscriptions, semantics and conceptual history, philosophy, religion and comparative studies, phonology and syntax, Buddhist China and Chinese Buddhism, and literature and film. I also participated in the editorial work. The volume was finished just in time for the celebrations in Oslo. We are proud to have been able to include 34 articles by many of the scholars who have worked closely with Christoph Harbsmeier over the years. We are also happy that we were able to give the book an artistic quality, with flower paintings by the Chinese painter Xiao Chan as well as a charming caricature of Christoph Harbsmeier by Feng Zikai’s student Bi Keguan. We have also been able to include a poem written for the occasion by one of China’s foremost scholars of ancient script and texts, Pang Pu, translated into English by one of Europe’s foremost translators and scholars of

traditional Chinese literature, David Hawkes. Björn Wittrock, the Principal of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study at Uppsala wrote a preface lauding Christoph Harbsmeier’s scholarly achievements, while we ourselves wrote a humorous and hopefully penetrating introduction to Christoph Harbsmeier’s life. Interested scholars can read more about the publication at www.hermesac.no.

Christoph Anderl & Halvor Eifring (eds.): Studies in Chinese Language and Culture: Festschrift in Honour of Christoph Harbsmeier on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday. Oslo: Hermes Academic Publishing 2006 (hardcover, XLVI + 474 pp., incl. 14 colour plates, ISBN  82 8034 051 3). Price: € 55 (price for EACS and EACL members: € 48). For more information on the book see www.hermesac.no. The book may be ordered from Hermes Academic Publishing & Bookshop A/S at [email protected].

Halvor Eifring

WORKSHOP ON LIFESTYLE AND ENTERTAINMENT IN

YANGZHOU

Newsletter 36 included a report on the workshop ‘Lifestyle and entertainment in Yangzhou’. Inadvertently the contact data were dropped.For information on this workshop, please contact Roland Altenburger, University of Zü[email protected]

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OBITUARYPROFESSOR PIERO CORRADINI

(1933-2006)

Professor Piero Corradini died suddenly on 7th September 2006 in his beloved home in Belforte del Chienti, in the province of Macerata. His death, at the age of 73, was due to a rapid and devastating illness. While still shocked by this sad and premature event, we are aware of the huge void left in the academic world, of the importance of this great researcher and of the depth of his contributions to the formation of several generations of scholars in the field of oriental studies.He graduated in Arts in 1955 from the Università degli Studi in Rome and was awarded a Diploma in Chinese Language and Culture by the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East. His first post, in 1964, was as Professor of History and Civilization of the Far East at the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples, where he continued to teach as a full professor until 1975, and where for some years he also held the post of Dean of the Faculty of Political Science. He continued his work at the Università degli Studi in Macerata (1975 – 85) and subsequently at “La Sapienza” University in Rome (1985-2000), where he concluded his brilliant career in 2003.His fields of interest ranged widely from literature to history, from philosophy to geography and from politics to religion throughout the area

of the Far East, publishing more than 200 works of essays and texts. Among his best known texts, we remember his work on the history, literature and art of China (La Cina, U.T.E.T., 1st edition 1969; Storia della Letteratura cinese, Fabbri, 1st edition 1979; Antologia della Letteratura cinese, Fabbri, 1st edition 1979; La Città Proibita. Storia e collezioni, Giunti 1992; Cina: popoli e società in cinque millenni di storia, Giunti,1996); on Confucianism (Confucio e il Confu-cianesimo, Esperienze, 1st edition 1972; Confucius, la via dell’uomo, Charta, 1993); on the history of Japan (Introduzione alla storia del Giappone, Bulzoni, 1992, Il Giappone e la sua storia, Bulzoni, 1999); and on Mongolia (La Mongolia moderna, Marzorati, 1978). He was the author of numerous essays on state adminis-tration during the Qing era and during the Republican age, on missionaries in the Far East, with particular reference to Matteo Ricci, and on Chinese cities, works which were also published in a number of Far Eastern and Russian journals. However, such a wide-ranging contribution to scientific research cannot be adequately conveyed by mere reference to these titles.His intense activity as a researcher was accompanied by an equally intense activity in cultural internationalisation as a prominent member of prestigious Associations on Oriental Studies throughout the world, of which he was also president and for which he also organised and co-ordinated scientific research. He was Director of two Italian Cultural Institutes abroad, first in Tokyo (1979-81) and then in Peking (1988-91).

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If, on the one hand, the vast scientific contribution which he made to global sinology is undeniable, on the other hand his dedication to academic work, his open-mindedness, his enthusiasm, the benevolence and generosity with which he treated his students and young researchers are also equally indisputable. When, as a recent graduate and uncertain of my future, I first visited him in his study in the University of Macerata, he himself urged me to undertake the path of research. His words expressed passion and scientific interest, together with solid plans for a possible career, which aroused new stimuli and motivation in me. His ability to communicate passion for researching our origins, for textual analysis, for critical reflection and his immense humanity in sustaining students in their moments of difficulty and dismay, which frequently assail and confound during the development of a research project or in the course of an academic career, made him not only a great educator but a master of life.Farewell Professor Corradini, friend and master. If the lives of your ex-students, even though they have developed in different ways, have followed a fascinating path towards the East, we owe it to you, to the depth of your cultural knowledge, to your humane generosity and to your academic commitment.

Maria CiglianoUniversità degli Studi di Napoli l’ Orientale

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NEW PUBLICATIONS

Christoph Anderl and Halvor Eifring (eds.), Studies in Chinese Language and Culture: Festschrift in Honour of Christoph Harbsmeier on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday. Oslo: Hermes. 2006. 474 pp. ISBN 82 8034 051 3. € 55 (for EACS and EACL members € 48).

Véronique Alexandre Journeau (presentation), Les Mondes asiatiques, Recherches et enjeux. Paris: Les Indes Savantes. 2006. 264 pp. ISBN: 2-84654-152-3. € 26

Robert H. Gassmann, Verwandtschaft und Gesellschaft in alten China, Begriffe, Strukturen und Prozesse. Bern: Peter Lang. 2006. 593 pp. ISBN: 3-03911-170-1. € 79.20

Harro von Senger, The 36 Stratagems for Business. London: Cyan Communications Limited, 2006. 205 pp. ISBN: 1-904879-46-2. UK 14.99 Pound; USA 26.95 Dollar.

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EACS OFFICERSPresident Vice-President

Secretary Brunhild Staiger* Tim Wright Roel Sterckx*

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EACS BOARD MEMBERSDušan ANDRŠ. Charles University, Prague, Czech RepublicJoel BELLASEN. INALCO, Paris, France.Anna BUSQUETS. Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona, SpainCarine DEFOORT. Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.Halvor EIFRING. Oslo University, Oslo, Norway.Denise GIMPEL. University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.Svetlana GORBUNOVA. Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Moscow, RussiaBarend ter HAAR. Sinological Institute, Leiden, The NetherlandsImre HAMAR. Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary. Ann HEIRMAN. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.Thomas KAMPEN. Institut für Sinologie, Heidelberg, GermanyFrank KRAUSHAAR. University of Latvia, Riga, LatviaBarbara LEONESI. Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, ItalyTiziana LIPPIELLO. Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, ItalyCecilia MILWERTZ. NIAS, Copenhagen, Denmark. Lauri PALTEMAA.University of Turku, Finland.Irina POPOVA. Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.Matthias RICHTER. University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.Jana ROŠKER. University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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Brunhild STAIGER. Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg, Germany. Roel STERCKX. Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.Lam SUN. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.Marina SVENSSON. Lund University, Lund, Sweden.Tim WRIGHT. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.

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